It is interesting how numismatic items we
shun in one era can become interesting to us years later. The seldom seen
one-ounce silver medal that is the subject of this article is an example of such
an item as it relates to this author.

It's a medal that was struck from dies
hand-engraved in a rather charming rustic style not often seen today on
one-ounce silver medals. It was produced in 1979 or thereabouts to mark the
beginning of what was dubbed the "American Hostage Crisis." It
began in Iran on November 4 of that year and lasted 444 days. It culminated with
the release of all 66 captives representing diplomats and citizens of the United
States on January 20, 1981. Fourteen of the 66 were released earlier for various
reasons such as race, sex or medical condition.

Though perhaps unwittingly, this silver
round also seemingly marks the rise of the first fundamentalist Islamic
revolution of modern times by showing its leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini in the foreground, while marking the fall of Western control of that
state by showing the fallen Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, in the background. The
flip side of this piece shows a blindfolded US captive backdropped by a map of
Iran.

This is perhaps the only (or one of very
few) numismatic items created to mark this event -- an event believed by many to
have caused President Jimmy Carter to lose his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan
in 1980.

This is a privately minted 1oz silver medal
with die work suggestive of the now defunct California Crown Mint. While
it is certainly not rare, its scarcity suggests that the topic was may not have
been well received as a "commemorative" and that perhaps many American
collectors preferred to not mark the event with a numismatic item in their
collection. It was also minted at a time when silver prices were soaring
due to the activities of the Hunt brothers who attempted to corner the silver
market to drive prices up. With silver prices exceeding the $40.00 mark in
this era it is easy to see why many more collectors were selling medals and
other silver related items rather than were buying them.

No matter what the cause, what is often
shunned in the numismatic marketplace during one era, can become highly sought
after in another due to a combination of its scarcity and it representing an
interesting historical retrospective on a subject that may have not been popular
at the time. This point is perhaps most easily punctuated by the fact that this
author was well aware of but ignored this item during the era of its release but
found it a delight to find one over 25 years later!

Though there are many web sites that cover
the American Hostage Crisis with possibly some of the better ones found at the
following links: